Friday, November 27, 2009

With an apparent gypsy curse hitting the UFC's heavyweight division hard, select fighters have announced that they'll be cutting down to 205 to compete and avoid the laundry list of illnesses and injuries that have inexplicably stricken their hefty brethen. At the top of list are Ben Rothwell, Paul Buentello and Cain Velasquez, with Rothwell dropping no less than 60 pounds to make the cut-off. "It's worth it," said the Midwest-based striker. "I mean, when I heard Brock [Lesnar] was sick I didn't think anything of it. But then [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira got staph, Shane Carwin hurt his knee, Randy Couture got old, Todd Duffee got leprosy... that's when I knew something was up, and I just had to avoid it." Buentello agreed. "Yeah, when Cheick Kongo woke up and it was raining frogs in his house and Mirko Crocop was suddenly sapped of all his talent, it was clear this division is cursed. And until Dana White does whatever he needs to do to appease the gypsies, I ain't messing with no evil eye-Santeria junk. I'd rather cut down on burritos and take my chances with Lyoto Machida, thank you very much." Added Velasquez, "Aye carumba." No word yet on when these new light-heavyweights will be competing or against whom, but it's safe to say that, if the heavyweight ranks continue to fall prey illness and injury, more fighters will make the switch.

November 27, 2009: The November 2009 Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.

In addition to the numerous MMA web sites that publish the Independent World MMA Rankings, you can also access the rankings at any time by going to www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com.

Note: Due to the fact that he has not competed in the welterweight division for over one year and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future, Jake Shields is no longer eligible to be ranked in the welterweight division. He is, however, eligible to be ranked in the middleweight division.

Note: Due to the fact that he has moved to the light heavyweight division and has no plans to fight at heavyweight in the foreseeable future, Randy Couture is no longer eligible to be ranked in the heavyweight division. He is, however, eligible to be ranked in the light heavyweight division.

November 2009 Independent World MMA RankingsBallots collected on November 24, 2009

The Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody's vote counting more than anybody else's vote, and no computerized voting.

The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters' actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they've actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win fantasy match-ups.

Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.

Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.

Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that he is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until he has his first fight in the new weight class.

Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Here's a little fun fact for you: TUF 10 competitor James McSweeney, whose striking and incoherent manner of speaking has seen him survive to the season's semifinals, fought at ROC 24 in April - right before entering the TUF house - and the Brit got absolutely smoked. The man doing the smoking? Top Northeast fighter Ricardo Romero, a heavy-handed wrestler with only one loss to his record (a disqualification for punting an opponent's head into the audience). So next time your friend start espousing the belief that TUF is comprised of the best fighters, gently remind them of McSweeney, who came into the competition fresh off a humiliating to Romero, a fighter far more skilled and better in the cage. And then kick your friend in the groin.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Aggressive Combat Sports is throwing a no-gi grappling tournament on December 5th, with Finest Fitness in Patchogue playing the role of host and a number of New York underground fight circuit regulars playing the role of "innocent competitor". As this is a grappling tournament, there should be a limited amount of shankings and parking lot fisticuffs, so it might be worth checking out. More info is here: http://acomsports.wordpress.com/acom-sports-grappling-series/ .

Congrats to Chad Vance for sticking to just training wrestling for MMA competition. It takes courage to get into the cage knowing you only have one piece of the puzzle and that you're going to get your ass kicked.

Yay! Rafael Cavalcante is back on track as a tough and fearsome light-heavyweight. If he keeps winning, he'll earn the chance to get killed by Gegard Mousasi in no time.

Erik Apple may have lost, but it's hard to feel bad for a guy when you know he's got a harem of smoking-hot women to "comfort" him. Seriously, have you seen his collection of babes?

With the number of fights and the quality of the action, this installment (called "The Perfect Storm") was definitely one of the top three UCLs ever. Chris Corr and Alejandro Richardson had an amazing battle on the ground, Lionheart and Chris Lorenzo had a huge crowd-pleasing war, Marwin Roque was smooth as hell, pornstar Buck McWinters was dominant, and Peter Storm and Rashad Clarke put on a very entertaining scrap. As this event seemed more "vale tudo" than usual and a few fighters ended up with cuts that needed medical attention, fans got to watch the doctors stitch guys up at ringside. So that was a plus. I think. Actually, it was pretty gnarly. But the Perfect Storm was great.

Lionheart is up and taking on Chris Lorenzo, and these two little guys go nuts throwing flying knees, kicks, punches, everything. The action pauses when Lionheart takes an accidental finger in the eye, but when they restart the bedlam continues. Chris' stand-up is a little crisper, and he uses it to edge ahead in the first, and Lionheart gets on Chris's back in Round 2 and comes damn close to choking him out. But Chris perseveres, and in Round 3 he eventually overwhelms Lionheart with punches to get the TKO. Last fight and it's New Gen Karate's Lil' Evil against Ultimate Karate's Jonathan Rodriguez. Lil' Evil has the clear advantage in wrestling, but they're mixing it up nicely both on the feet and on the ground, and Lil' Evil takes the lead with more time in top position and more leather landed. Jonathan is in it throughout, firing off knees and throwing up sub attempts when possible, but it isn't enough, and Lil' Evil takes the unanimous decision. And that's it.

Kevin Wall is getting stitched up by the doctors at ringside now. Meanwhile, Buck McWinters is throwing down with Rafi, McWinters clearly the better wrestler and striker. He gets the TKO in Round 1. Marwin Roque is up, taking on New Gen Karate's William Lucas. Marwin reps Team Renzo, so of course this one is going to be a frenetic chessmatch on the ground - a chessmatch that is back and forth at first until Marwin gets Williams' back, flattens him out and sinks the rear naked choke.

It's time for Storm vs. Rashad. Wearing his judo gi as usual, Storm wades in and puts Rashad on the mat, but the Brooklyn Fight Factory rep is strong and feisty and keeps bucking Storm off, throwing punches whenever he can. It's all over in Round 2 when Storm falls back into a heelhook and forces the tap out. New Gen Karate stud Chris Corr is in the ring now to face grappler Alejandro Richardson. Wow, this is turning out to be the most technical grappling battle the UCL has ever seen. Richardson starts out all over Corr, going for sub after sub, and amazingly Corr escapes every one of them. The New Gen Karate fighter gets some payback with some ground and pound in Round 2, and though Richardson gains the upper hand in the third - securing himself the unanimous decision in the process - no one can really be called a loser in this one. Both Richardson and Corr look ultra-impressive.

MMA Journalist is here in the deepest, darkest recess of New York City for latest installment of the Underground Combat League - NYC's only vale tudo promotion. There are nine or ten fights scheduled, with fighters hailing from New Generation Karate, Team Renzo, Brooklyn Fight Factory and Salvatore's Academy of Steroids, among others, so it should be interesting. Promoter Peter Storm himself will be competing, too, taking on ace boxer Rashad Clarke. However, first up is Kevin Wall of the Warriors against Hybrid of Brooklyn Fight Factory. Wall and Hybrid go to war, with Wall's abilty to gain dominant position enabling him to take charge for most of the three rounds. Yet Hybrid is tough, and reverses late to drop a series of headbutts that opens up a bout-ending cut over Wall's eye. Good fight. Next up is Trevor of Saigo MMA against 260-pound freestyle fighter James. Trevor's got a wide range of skills, including low-kicks and some defensive grappling, but James is pure boxing and raw power and he's giving Trevor a hard time. It goes the distance and James takes the unanimous decision.

Follow by Email

About Me

In the game since 2001, covering everything from UFCs on down to underground shows. Read my book RAW COMBAT, follow me on Twitter (jim_genia), or check out my YouTube page (RawCombat). No one knows the Northeast fight scene like I do. NO ONE.